Hopes rose that Swiss bank UBS can finally move on from a damaging US tax row, after a request for a delay to a high-profile trial scheduled for later on Monday brought a settlement nearer.

The US Department of Justice and UBS asked a federal judge on Sunday to delay until Aug 3 the trial "to continue their discussions seeking a resolution of this matter."    

The case, seen as key to the future of the global offshore banking industry, seeks to force UBS to reveal the identities of 52,000 rich Americans suspected of using secret bank accounts to dodge taxes. This would be in breach of Swiss bank secrecy laws.

A source familiar with the situation told Reuters the talks, now led by the US and Swiss governments, were aimed at finding a way to allow the transfer bank client data without breaching Swiss law. The source did not rule out a payment from UBS.

A settlement is likely to dent Swiss privacy laws as it is expected to involve the transfer of some client data, but would help UBS move on from a damaging row that is hurting its brand and deflecting it from its aim to return to profit.

Tax lawyers say European governments, which are also trying to recoup unpaid tax money from offshore banks, will closely watch the outcome of the US tax dispute and could also put pressure Switzerland as a global fight against tax cheats gathers pace.

"The ultimate settlement of this case should remove a key regulatory overhang on UBS stock and serve as a near-term positive even if the 'green shoots' of operational recovery may take longer," said Kinner Lakhani, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland.

In a statement on Sunday, UBS welcomed the fact that the US and Swiss governments had agreed to negotiate an end the tax litigation. A spokesman declined further comment on Monday.

"It has always been our view that this matter will be better resolved through negotiations at the appropriate levels of the US and Swiss governments and not through ongoing litigation," said James Nason, spokesman for the Swiss Banking Association, who also welcomed the move.

The subprime crisis has led UBS to report the biggest annual loss in Swiss corporate history in 2008 and accept state aid. It is losing clients at its wealth management division, but a resolution of the tax spat could give it some relief.

"If the US case settles soon then definitely I believe the net new money flows will improve worldwide, slowly but surely, also in Wealth Management Americas," said Vontobel analyst Teresa Nielsen.

The Department of Justice, which cautioned on Sunday it was still ready to ratchet up its legal fight with UBS, said any settlement would necessarily include the bank providing data on a significant number of its US clients.

A person familiar with the situation told Reuters last week that, to circumvent Swiss law, the Swiss government could agree to disclose UBS bank client data indirectly, possibly by helping the US Internal Revenue Service cross-check US banks' data about transfers from Switzerland and UBS.

UBS chairman Kaspar Villiger said last week the focus of the discussions was the client data, not a possible fine and said that speculation of UBS having to pay billions of dollars in the tax dispute were completely unfounded. - Reuters